Often times, persons wish to print sensitive documents, i.e., documents that they wish to remain private and do not wish to share with unauthorized persons. Unfortunately, there are few, if any, systems with which secure printing can be obtained where the printing device (e.g., printer) is used in a shared environment. Accordingly, users that print sensitive documents in shared environments typically send a print job to the printing device and rush to the device to gain possession of the hard copy document that is generated.
Clearly, several drawbacks exist to the aforementioned method of printing sensitive documents. For instance, if another person in the shared environment also has sent a print job to the printing device, that person may already be waiting at the printing device and therefore may see the sensitive document. Furthermore, a jam may occur prior to the printing of the sensitive document, increasing the chances of an unauthorized person viewing the document once the jam is cleared.
In view of the lack of secure printing systems and the drawbacks associated with present methods of printing sensitive documents, it can be appreciated that it would be desirable to have a system and method for secure printing.